Zucchini: plants and recipe

Is this not beautiful, as you can see the zucchini is  growing well. The photo on the right was taken on 17 August and the one with the flowers on the 26th. I can't wait to be able to collect some and I will probably give quite a few away. In my enthusiasm and ignorance, I planted 6 seeds and they all grew. My husband told me that it does not take any skills to grow them :(. I am discovering that he is right. I removed a few plants as they were overshadowing the eggplants which are still quite small.
As all vegetables, zucchinis are a good source of fibre and vitamin C. They have a high water content (95%) and are very low in calories.

 I have a great recipe for zucchini soup. The first time I made it was for friends and I only tasted it when we started our dinner! Dangerous but it worked. I could not believe how beautiful this soup is and everyone wanted the recipe! Here is what you do: In a medium pan fry a finely chopped onion in a bit of butter. Add 4 grated zucchinis and 2 crushed cloves of garlic and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add 1 litre of vegetable stock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat slightly and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Stir in approx. 60ml of fresh cream and season, to taste, with salt and pepper (freshly ground black pepper if you can). Serve immediately. The quantities given will serve 4 people.

Bon appétit!

Vegetable garden

Great news and I was very excited by this: we have had our first salad with our home grown lettuce!! We are growing the Arugula Wild, it has the most amazing fresh and spicy flavour. I combined this with homegrown parsley and basil and some nicely ripened tomatoes from the Tablelands. A simple vinaigrette, steak, a glass of wine and ... you can guess it, yummy!
I caught a few grasshoppers that were feasting on my bean plant and sage!! No longer, I used pyrethrum which I am told is natural. It kills the insect on contact but also repels them. The spraying needs to be repeated in a week's time.
I thinned out the zucchini plants as the large leaves were overshadowing the eggplant. Hopefully they will get more sun now and grow.
About six tomato seedlings were planted about 4 weeks ago and only three have grown, two seem to have collar rot. Even though they have 'collapsed' the leaves still look healthy so I will see what happens in the coming days.

In the meantime,

Bon appétit!

What a dish!

After a busy week, cooking was not a high priority. I had bought, and not yet used, this beautiful dish. The sunflower and sesame seeds on the edge make it look quite creative. The simple mix of lettuce, spinach leaves and tomatoes made this a healthy, tasty and quick meal. The vinaigrette consisted of some virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, mustard, freshly ground black pepper and a little bit of soy sauce.

Bon appétit!

Porridge and coffee on a cold morning

There is no better way to start the day on a cold winter's morning than with a steaming porridge with rhubarb, yogurt, cinnamon and a latte.

I enjoy the great texture, the creaminess of the oats that were cooked to perfection by the Deli in Albert Park. The rhubarb can sometimes be a bit sour or too sweet, this time it was just perfect and the yoghurt, which I believe to be cinnamon yoghurt with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top just finished off this warming breakfast. The latte was not to be sneezed at either.

Breakfast is an important meal of the day. After a night’s sleep our body has rested and used up the fuel we gave it the day before so it is time to replenish it. Great ideas for breakfast are everywhere, from a simple piece of toast with jam or honey to a full on cooked breakfast. My choice would be to stay clear from most cereals as they contain lots of sugar and/or salt. Have you noticed that when they claim to have no added sugar to them that the salt content is much higher and the other way around? Please read the labels carefully.

Two other big reasons to eat a healthy breakfast is that it helps concentration until the next meal and it will stop you from snacking on unhealthy food until lunchtime. Do you have cravings mid morning and buy one of those ‘bars’ at work? The sugar and fat in them will give you a ‘needed’ short-lived boost but will not feed your body what it needs. Sugars and fats over time will increase your weight and you will feel more sluggish.

In a hurry in the morning, not hungry first thing? Have a piece of fruit or even a glass of water with some freshly squeezed lemon and take the untoasted muesli you prepared the night before to work!

Bon appétit!

Beans and baby fennel

Beans and fennel, this for me was an unexpected great combination.

A few weeks ago whilst having lunch at Vivo in Palm Cove I chose the fish of the day and it had shaved fennel as a vegetable. Yesterday, as well as beans I bought some baby fennel at the South Melbourne market. At that stage I was not sure what I would do with the fennel. When preparing our meal tonight I topped the beans and steamed them. In the meantime I shaved the raw fennel. To the steamed beans I added some olive oil, freshly grated nutmeg and ground black pepper. The shaved fennel was warmed up in this mix. As the photo shows the dish did not only look attractive, it also had a beautiful fresh and earthy taste. I will do this again; it was a simple, tasty and very healthy combination. We had some fish fillets with this. My husband coated them first with a whole beaten egg and covered them with breadcrumbs. Fried beautifully, they were still juicy on the inside and nice and crunchy on the outside.

Bon appétit!

Health information

Green beans: great source of fiber, vitamin C and K, the latter great for bone health.

Fennel: great source of vitamin C, fiber and potassium. Fennel helps to relieve indigestion.

Meatballs and Health benefits of spices used

I promised to tell you more about my meatballs. Actually there are two stories I wish to share.

Years ago when my children were still young – they still are you would say, but you understand what I mean – we attended a few BBQ’s and it was difficult to have them sit down and eat a salad as well as the meat and bread. I came up with the idea of processing some vegetables in the food processor and added this mix to the raw mince. The moisture content was a bit high but nothing the BBQ could not take care of. The kids called them ‘Green Burgers’; they were a success (for a few years).

The following may appeal to you a bit more. To a pestle and mortar I add some fresh black pepper corns, coriander and cumin seeds. After crushing them I add this mix to the mince together with an egg and some fresh breadcrumbs. You may wish to add some fresh coriander or parsley. After shaping the meatballs, fry them as usual. These meatballs have a nice Middle Eastern flavour and would go well with a mix of diced cucumber and tomatoes in yoghurt.

Bon appétit!

Some of the benefits of the spices used

Cumin is a great spice to help digestion as the essential oils activate our salivary glands, the first stage in digesting our food. Cumin also relieves gas symptoms.

Coriander has many benefits in digesting our food. It helps proper secretion of enzymes and digestive juices in the stomach, supports the liver. Coriander has a high iron content, which helps with anaemia.

Black pepper stimulates the whole digestive system by promoting digestive juices. It facilitates digestion. It is safe to add to bland food when chillies are not recommended. Black pepper also relieves symptoms of gas.